


to know it's over

by thatiranianphantom



Series: we are a masterpiece [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Okay so same as last time, Read the notes and don't shoot please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23432242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatiranianphantom/pseuds/thatiranianphantom
Summary: She takes Archie into the same empty classroom and locks the door quickly. He looks notably apprehensive, and she can imagine why.“I’m going to tell Jug,” the words come out in a jumble, but Betty knows she needs to say it now, as quickly as possible, before the courage leaves her.Archie looks at her in shock. “You’re going to tell him?”She nods. “He deserves to know.”**Or, part two.Betty tells Jughead. And we go from there.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: we are a masterpiece [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685578
Comments: 14
Kudos: 49
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	to know it's over

**Author's Note:**

> OH BOY FOLKS. 
> 
> First of all, in my own defense, the people wanted this. The people asked for it. And I'm in quarantine. And there's only so much reading you can do about pedagogy, or so much learning Arabic you can do before the mind wanders. And then the mind wanders to Bughead, and your "how can I angst this up further" sensibilities take over, and then before you know it, you are ripping off 90s TV shows. Lovingly. But still. It was the perfect follow-up and I couldn't say no. 
> 
> So, yeah. That's what happened. 
> 
> As always, I am and always will be a Bughead shipper. I do not tear down Barchie shippers, but I am a Bughead shipper.

_ _

_ Well, they thought they were made for each other _

_ One thinking of one another _

_ Never thinking just for one second _

_ She would take a different attraction _

For the first time in a long, long time, she pulls Archie aside during lunch. She tells the group she’s found some information on a college for him, near Veronica at Barnard.

Veronica smiles and tells her what a good friend she is, and Betty feels as if she’s plunged an actual physical knife into her heart. She manages what she hopes is a convincing smile before scooting off the bench where she’s seated beside Jug to get to Archie. Jug smiles and kisses her cheek quickly before she pulls away and she feels worse, if it were possible. 

She takes Archie into the same empty classroom and locks the door quickly. He looks notably apprehensive, and she can imagine why.

“I’m going to tell Jug,” the words come out in a jumble, but Betty knows she needs to say it now, as quickly as possible, before the courage leaves her. 

Archie looks at her in shock. “You’re going to tell him?”

She nods. “He deserves to know.”

Archie clears his throat nervously. She knows what he’s thinking. She’s always been able to read him like an open book. 

“But, like...know what exactly, Betty?”

Betty groans. “I don’t know, Archie, but whatever this is,” she indicates between them. “I can’t keep it from Jug. We’ve never once lied to each other. I’m not about to start now.” 

Archie nods slowly. “Okay. So you tell Jug,”

“Yeah.” She runs a nervous hand through her ponytail. “God, he’s going to be so sad.” 

Archie gives a short, confirmatory nod, and Betty wonders when this became her life. Lying to her boyfriend, sneaking around with Archie, this doesn’t feel at all like her. 

She heaves a sigh, and pushes herself off the desk. 

“I’m going to tell Jug, and you should tell Vee. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
He is. 

She sits him down on her ( _ their)  _ bed and asks him if he remembers when he asked her if kissing Archie made old feelings come back. 

A shadow falls across his face right away, and his voice is rough and wary.

_ Is it because you think Archie’s my third rail?  _

_ That used to bother me.  _

Maybe the Archie problem had never left them. 

“Yes. As I recall, you said no.”

She nods. “And I meant it. I mean, I meant it then. At least, I really thought I did. I know... _ shit.  _ This is coming out all wrong.” 

He lays a hand tentatively on hers. “What are you saying, Betty?”

She takes a deep breath and forces herself to look into his eyes. They hold the same gentleness they always do, the same love. It brings her so much comfort, usually, to know someone cares about her that fiercely. But now it just twists the knife of guilt so much deeper. 

“Jug, in the last few weeks, I’ve been...confused.”

“Confused about what?” He exhales sharply. “About me?”

“No!” she breathes, squeezing his hand. “Not you, never about you.”

“Then...Archie?”

A tear leaks out as she studies the bedspread. When did things become so complicated, she wonders? 

That, in itself, feels like an insane thing to ask, because everything about the last three years has been complicated. Serial killers, murdering fathers, teen pregnancy, cults...the only simple thing in her life was Jughead. Their love had always been so easy, so effortless. Until this, and for some reason, this seems so much more immensely complex than all of that had been. 

  
  


She feels Jug’s fingers slacken in hers. As if he’s already letting go.

“You like Archie?” his voice is choked and god, she hates this, she  _ hates  _ this. 

“I don’t...I don’t know.”

“You don’t love me anymore? You love him now?” Her heart cracks at his tone. 

“No! No, god no, Jug, of  _ course _ I love you.”

“Then  _ what _ , Betty? What is it you feel for Archie?”

“I don’t  _ know _ ! I so wish I knew Jug, but I just...I’m just confused.” 

He nods, casting his eyes down. “Yeah, you said that.” 

They sit in silence for a moment, and she’s never felt further away from him. It’s perhaps the worst feeling she can imagine. They were  _ Betty and Jughead _ . True Detective and Nancy Drew. Two parts of a whole. And now they’re here, sitting next to each other, touching and yet ten feet apart.

“So you think you have feelings for Archie?”

“Maybe.” It comes out in a whisper, and she curses her entire lack of courage.

“And you’re not sure where that leaves...us.” 

She just nods this time. 

He swallows, and that’s when she sees the tears pooled in his eyes. She made him cry. She feels like the absolute lowest form of humanity, because Jughead Jones is the strongest person she knows, and she’s hurting him.

But Jughead Jones is also nothing if not a constant surprise, and he surprises her again when he lifts his hands to cradle her face, to wipe the tears from her cheeks. 

“I think...you need some time. I think you need time to figure this out, Betty. So if you do, if you do need the time, take it.”

“Jug…”

“I can’t do this if you’re not sure, Betty. I couldn’t be in this if you’re not sure. So if you think that you need to see Archie, if you need to...go to him to figure this out, then that’s what you should do.”

She lets out a choked sob. “I should?”

He swallows hard. “Yeah. If that’s what you need to do, you should do it.” 

She gives the barest of nods. “Okay.”

“Okay.” He breathes back, and for the first time, she has no idea what he’s thinking.

* * *

The next day, she asks Archie out. On an actual date. It’s a little like living in a parallel universe. He smiles and accepts with a squeeze to her hand, one that produces a small tingle through her body, and tenth-grade Betty would have been ecstatic, out of her mind with joy. 

Senior Betty just feels...numb. She looks around and doesn’t see Veronica, but she does see Jughead. He’s lurking behind the bleachers, wearing the same expression as yesterday. She knows, she  _ sees _ how badly this is hurting him, but he told her to go for this. He told her to figure out how she felt, and she needed to. 

  
  


They laugh. She shouldn’t be surprised, but she has a good time. She and Archie go out to eat (not at Pops) but at another local diner. Not as good, but they spend the time reminiscing about fifth grade, when Dilton Doiley stuck a bug in Reggie’s ear, and Reggie ran around the class screaming, too hysterical to be contained even by the teachers. 

Or the time in seventh grade where Archie tried to ask Melody to the dance with a Pops milkshake, and accidently spilled it all over her dress in his nervousness, before running away, too ashamed to even help her clean herself up.

They talk about the past, and about the future. Archie wants to go to a community college around Riverdale. He can visit his friends on the weekends (he stumbles around the word “friends”, and they both know he’s trying not to bring up Veronica’s name), and it’ll be more his speed. 

He wants to come back to Riverdale, run his dad’s company and the community centre. She’s not shocked. That has always been Archie. If Fred was Riverdale, so is Archie. He is so much of his father. Kind, loyal, good. The community centre is perfect for him, for the boy who wanted, more than anything, to make a difference, even in a small way. She’s always loved that about him.

They finish their food and take a walk around Sweetwater River. He tentatively takes her hand, and she lets him. 

She kisses Archie. And...well, she’s not sure exactly what she’s expecting. It’s good. It feels good. He holds her around the waist, and they kiss. 

She’s kissed Archie before, but this is different. This is unquestionably real.

Their lips meet, again and again, and warmth spreads through Betty. It’s a nice kiss. Perhaps repetitive, but that is what her brain is ascribing to it.

He doesn’t hold her face. When her eyes open, she sees brown eyes and not blue. Maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe it does. Maybe she thought the kiss would clarify something, would fix something, but it doesn’t. 

She pulls away slowly, and lets Archie walk her home. 

He kisses her once, far away from the door, and leaves. 

(Jughead isn’t there when she gets back. She falls asleep alone, and alone is precisely how she feels.)

* * *

  
  


She’s angry. No, more than that. She is pissed, really, massively pissed, because nothing is clearer. 

And she knows what she would do in a normal scenario, go to Vee’s place and curl up on the couch with margaritas, tell her best friend everything. 

But her best friend...she hasn’t seen her in days. Hasn’t heard from her in days. Veronica seems to have disappeared, and Betty doesn’t have the courage to text her or call her, because in betraying Jughead, she betrayed Veronica too. 

She knows how hard trust is for her friend, knows how much she values their friendship, and that’s just...gone. Gone because of her. 

It’s not something she’ll allow herself to explore, not now. But she can’t go to Vee. 

So, taking a deep breath, she knocks on the grand door of Thornhill. 

She’s forced to tell Cheryl and Toni everything, but stipulates that she wants to hold one of the babies while she does it. Dagwood curls sleepily into her lap, clean and happy, and she passes a hand through his reddish curls. How much Polly is missing, she thinks. But then again, Polly has rarely been there throughout the twins’ life. They have lived longer with Cheryl than they ever have with Polly. 

Cheryl and Toni are a bit horrified with her, she knows. But she does appreciate how hard they try to listen objectively.

“So…we’re helping you choose between Hobo and Justin Gingerlake?” Cheryl finally ventures.

Betty gives a heaving sigh. Choosing between Archie and Jughead just seems..wrong. But she can’t keep doing this, and she’s certainly tried to figure it out alone, to no real effect. 

“In effect, yes.” 

Cheryl nods. “Well. While I may not understand why anyone would choose the welfare baby…”

“Cheryl,” Toni says, her tone warning.

“Let me finish, TT. But I don’t think we ever thought that after you and True Detective being our very own Hamlet and Ophelia, we’d ever have to make this choice.” 

It’s fair enough, and she nods.

  
“Then again, just how many years has Ginger Judas been lurking on the periphery?” 

Again, it’s a fair question. 

“Before Jug, I always thought it would be me and Archie. You know, however long it took, however many obstacles there were, it was just...destined. I know that sounds stupid, but I’ve felt like that since he proposed to me in the second grade.” 

Cheryl has a half-smirk on her face, but she nods for Betty to continue.

“But then, Jug was there. And then I realized, in all the times with Archie that I remember, Jug was there too. It was never just me and Archie. And then when we got together I just kept thinking...how many years did we waste? We could have had this from the beginning.”

After a moment of silence, Cheryl lays a hand on Betty’s knee. “And the kiss?”

“It was...a nice kiss. And for the first time, we were both on the same page. It was a real kiss, but it almost felt...not real.”

She knows how odd that sounds, but kissing Archie and kissing Jug is just...different. She closes her eyes again and tries to picture kissing Archie, again and again. The picture is there, she can see it, but somehow, looking at those faces, she doesn’t recognize her own.

It’s like a lightning bolt at that moment. So clear, so concise, it feels insane that she ever wondered. 

She pictures kissing Archie, and then kissing Jug. 

Maybe it’s the three years of the most beautiful relationship under their belt, but she can see herself so clearly with Jug. She can see them through years, at college, solving mysteries, lying in bed at 35, surrounded by their sleeping babies. 

Yes, it’s all there, in perfect color.

She lifts her eyes to Cheryl, still waiting for an answer. 

“I like Archie. I could kiss him again. I could, even, be in a relationship with him. He’s one of my best friends, and I love him,”

Cheryl nods, as if sensing that Betty’s not quite done.

“But I don’t... _ love _ him. I like kissing him. I like being with him, and I like spending time with him. But…”

“But I could live without him.”

It feels all so obvious now, so very clear. 

“I can’t live without Jug.” 

Cheryl, still likely confused, smiles, and Betty smiles back, a real smile this time, and hugs Dagwood tighter to her, as the world rights itself on its axis. 

* * *

  
  


The butterflies in her stomach are crashing as she waits for Jug at Pops. 

He’ll show up, she knows it, but she still twists her fingers together, trying to do anything but dig her nails into her palms. He’d hate that, she knew. It hurt him when she hurt herself. 

He arrives, eyes cast down, still in one of his S tees, his Serpents jacket, and the beanie she made him. She counts that as a good sign. 

She jumps up nervously. “Jug. I’m...I’m glad you came.”

He nods shortly. “Of course, Betty.”

She beckons to the seat across from her and slides into the left side of the booth. “Sit, sit. I have something to tell you.” 

He breathes in. “You went out with Archie.” 

She bites her lip and gives a short nod. “Yeah. I did. On an actual date.”

He nods, looking down into his milkshake, and offers no further comment. So she continues.

“And we’ve never lied to each other, so I’ll also tell you that...we had a great time, Jug.”

He nods again. “I know, Betty. You guys have always been...something special. I knew you’d have a good time.” 

He is, as always, understanding. It’s long been one of her favorite things about Jug. He never assumed ill intent in her. He knew she was good, was stalwart in that belief. That sustained her for so long, when she wasn’t sure herself. 

“Yes, but I wasn’t sure that was...okay. See, for so long I felt so...guilty. I felt like it was a one-or-the-other situation. I felt like...like if I had any feelings, at all, for Archie, then that meant that my feelings for you were less. And this date, Jug, it was...fun. We ate, we laughed, we…”

“Did he kiss you?” he interrupts. 

Of course, he’d wonder. If the roles were reversed, she’d wonder too. It would consume her, eat at her, to wonder if her Jughead had been kissing someone else. She nods slowly. “We kissed. No further than that, but...we did kiss. A few times.”

He heaves a breath out, and casts his eyes further down. He’s hurt, even more hurt, she knows, even though on some level she knows he expected this. 

  
  


But she hates the look on his face, hates hurting him, so she lays one hand on his. “But Jug, I think...in the end, I think it’s a good thing. Because it made me realize that I...that I love you.” 

His eyes lift slightly, not quite on her yet, but she takes it as a good sign. Emboldened, she reaches across the table to take his hands in hers. 

“I love you, and  _ only _ you. And we don’t ever need to be worried again, because this, this is  _ real _ . Nothing else will ever be more real than this, Jug. I see the future so clearly now, and it’s only you. It’s us going to college together, it’s us getting a shitty apartment we have to lay out rat traps in. And it’s us getting married, and having kids, and dying when we’re 100 in each other’s arms. It’s  _ us _ , Jug, forever. And I know that now.”

His eyes lift to hers, his expression unreadable. 

“You know that now?”

She nods, the smile breaking through, and slides to his side of the booth. 

“So can we just...pretend it never happened? Can we start over, because there’s _ so _ much in front of us, Jug. There’s so much I want to tell you. I just wish...I just wish I hadn’t put you through this.”

His hands are tense in hers. His fingers don’t curl around hers, but he doesn’t pull away.

“I wish it never happened too.” His voice is tight, stained with emotion, but he’s with her. He still loves her, he wishes it never happened.

“Good! Good, then we can start over. Maybe go to Sweetwater River, spend the day there…”

She’s still talking, but her first sign should have been when he pulls his hands from hers. 

“Betty, I think we need to break up.” 

Betty didn’t count herself as overly paying attention to the sounds of life around her, but that stops her in her tracks. It’s as if everything around her stops, silences on a dime, instantaneously after those eight horrible words.

“What?”

He heaves a long breath out, caught with tears. 

“Do you think no girls have ever made a move on me?” 

She remembers saying Jughead is a constant surprise, and maybe she should have remembered that better, because of all things for him to say, she never expected that. 

“What are you talking about?”

He swallows hard. “Three months after we started dating, Ginger Lopez asked me out. A year and change in, Melody asked me to go to a movie with her and tried to hold my hand in the hallway. Ethel, god, Ethel’s been flirting with me for  _ years _ .” 

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because they didn’t matter! Not to me. They meant nothing, because I had you. Nothing mattered, because I had you!”

His voice rises, and he passes a hand through his hair, knocking the beanie off. 

“Three years, Betty. Through Polly and Jason, and the Black Hood, and the Gargoyle King, and the Farm, and Charles, and Stonewall...fuck, since we were  _ kids _ . You’re sure now? I’ve been sure since we were five.”

She’d rehearsed this, what she was going to say to him. She’d planned for what he might say in every instance. 

She’d never planned for this. 

The tears gather, and spill over, but she barely notices. 

“Jug…”

He slides father away from her, if possible, curling into himself. 

“I have never needed to test how I felt about you. I didn’t need to look elsewhere to be sure about us. You were the only thing I’ve ever been sure about my whole life, and I thought...I had actually convinced myself you felt the same. And if you had, Betty, I could have...I could have made you so happy.”

“I do! I..”   
  


“No, you don’t!” he spits. She’s never known Jughead to be so angry, not at her, but she suspects, with what little brainpower she can muster, that is not so much anger, but deep hurt. 

“Or, you didn’t.”

Betty heaves a sob, wanting to reach out to him. He is her comfort. Or, he was.

“You’re angry at me. You don’t forgive me.”   
  


He gives a fierce shake of his head. “No. That’s where you’re wrong. I do forgive you, Betty, that’s the worst part! Because no matter what, no matter how badly you hurt me, I still just want you to be  _ happy _ ! So of course, of fucking  _ course _ I forgive you.”

He sobs as well, and her vision is so blurred she can’t understand who’s crying more. She thinks it amazing. Moments ago, she was so happy and hopeful. Now, this feels like an end, but it can’t be, can it? It’s her and Jug, they can’t just be  _ over _ ? 

He’s quiet for a moment, sobbing into his leather sleeve. 

“I forgive you Betty, because I love you. I said I would always love you, and I fucking meant it. So, I forgive you. But needing to go out with Archie, needing to kiss Archie, to decide if I’m acceptable, if we’re acceptable for you? I don’t forgive you for that.” 

She jets off the booth, barely controlling her body. “No. No, Jug! You told me to do this!” She’s yelling now, everyone is staring, but she can’t be bothered to care. 

“You told me to see how I felt! You said it!” 

He stands too, he stands and he crushes his mouth to hers. The kiss is messy, desperate, and yet it  _ still  _ feels different than Archie’s kiss. It still feels like forever, and a goodbye at the same time.

Her hands try to find purchase in his jacket, but he steps far back, still holding her face, his hands filled with her tears. 

“And you listened.” 

And that’s it, really. The fight drains. The fight is over. They’re over. 

  
  
  


_ Oh so what is left but a broken man? _

_ 'Cause nothing hurts like a woman can _

**Author's Note:**

> If you a 90s kid, you already know what this was, ahem, inspired by. 
> 
> If you not, just...try to understand it from both of their perspectives. Betty has always liked Archie, and perhaps some small part of her was tempted by the idea of finally being with him. 
> 
> And Jughead has always loved Betty and her having to test if she actually felt the same way would be incredibly hurtful to him. 
> 
> This is a three-part series, but who actually knows when I will write the last part. While I was very inspired for this one, I am not so inspired for the last part. But maybe someday!


End file.
